to see, to meet, to trust
by forthwrite
Summary: It was Halloween night, so I normally would not have noticed them, except that the robot was floating. Five feet above the ground.


It was Halloween night, and I normally would not have noticed them, except that the robot was floating. Five feet above ground.

He was talking to a small group of people, all of them dressed up for Halloween. One of his companions wasn't wearing anything too unusual, but his skin was tinged slightly green. A big blond guy was wearing traditional Norse garb, with chainmail and armour. He was casually holding a hammer with a huge metal head that looked too heavy for me to even consider lifting; carrying it around all day must have been part of his exercise regimen or something, because he was almost inhumanly buff. A third guy looked like July 4th exploded all over him; his costume was good ol' red, white, and blue, and had a star emblazoned across its chest. A redheaded woman in a very tight jumpsuit was talking to a muscled man with a quiver of arrows on his back and a big bow in his hand. He looked deadly and focused and she just looked deadly.

Green Guy, Viking, American Flag, Redhead, Robin Hood. And a floating robot.

Now, I'm a pretty good magic user, one of the most powerful wizards in North America alive today. In the last decade or so, I've come across most types of magic, and I'm intimately familiar with magic's capabilities and limitations. Yet, I've never seen, let alone heard of, a telekinesis spell powerful enough to levitate a heavy hunk of metal for lengthy periods of time. As a newly minted Warden, it was my job to keep an eye on powerful magic users, to make sure they stay out of trouble. Hopefully, they were nothing too serious, just some kids having fun on Halloween, when people wouldn't look too closely at them. My gut was telling, however, that something deeper was going on here; in addition to the fact that a good half of them were carrying unusual weapons, they just didn't _feel _like a group of friends heading to a Halloween party. Knowing my luck, they were bad guys that wanted to destroy Chicago one way or another and it would be up to me to stop them.

'Don't tell me I need to fight these clowns too,' I moaned to Bob.

The clowns turned to look at me.

'Fight?' American Flag echoed.

'Yeah. I already had one slug-fest tonight, so if you're bad guys, I'd appreciate if we could reschedule, maybe until next week, after I've had some sleep.'

'We're not planning on fighting you, sir. I'm sorry if we gave you that impression. We're agents of SHIELD, a federal agency tasked with investigating and detaining any unusual threats to national security. We don't attack civilians.'

I thought SI was in charge of 'odd' investigations, but before I could reply, Robin Hood cut in.

'Have you seen a black cloud, funnel shaped, or a dinosaur? I know the city looks like a wreck, so they should be somewhere around here, but we can't find either of them,' said Robin Hood.

They knew about the dinosaur? Hell's bells.

'I'll put the bones back, I swear,' I quickly said.

'You were responsible for the dinosaur?' American Flag asked. He sounded disappointed, as if he expected better from me. I could understand why he was upset. I did steal a priceless artefact from a museum and used it to stop bad guys, wrecking a nice part of the city in the process. But what did he want me to do? Let the necromancers become demigods and raze the city? Creating the zombie dinosaur was the best way I could think of to defeat the necromancer's energy field.

'Yeah,' I said, after a moment.

He looked at me, his blue eyes examining mine. I looked away quickly, probably making me seem guilty as anything, but I on top of everything else that had happened tonight, I didn't really want to be pulled into a soulgaze.

'Can you tell me why I shouldn't arrest you?' he asked.

I took a deep breath. 'What I did was wrong, and probably illegal, but I did what I could to stop the . . . well, you probably won't believe me, so maybe I should stop talking now and you can just arrest me.'

SI had a difficult enough time believing my tales of the supernatural, so I didn't really expect these government goons to understand what I did. The quicker I got arrested, the sooner I'd be free. They couldn't hold me for long on one count of Creating Zombies out of Museum Exhibits, could they?

They were all looking at me oddly.

'Why are you staring at me?' I demanded after a minute.

'You don't know who we are, do you?' the woman asked.

'Uh, no,' I answered. 'Am I supposed to?'

'We're the Avengers,' Robin Hood said. 'Does that ring any bells?'

I shook my head. I really didn't know what he was talking about.

'Superhero group that saved Manhattan from aliens . . .' Robot Dude added.

I did vaguely remember hearing about that business a few months back but hadn't paid too much attention. I lived in a world filled with magic, vampires, and fae. Alien invasions just were not that exciting when you regularly spent your days, and many of your nights, dealing with supernatural creatures and crises.

'I wasn't paying too much attention,' I told them.

'Do you, like, live under a rock or something?' Robot Dude asked. 'Every news station on the planet covered that fight!'

I shrugged. 'I didn't realize I needed to follow the news.'

'There's not following the news, and then there's ignoring the rest of the universe for a few months!'

'Fascinating as all this is,' Green Guy cut in, 'I think we should get this discussion back on track. What else can you tell us about the dinosaur?'

I wasn't sure how to respond. They were clearly trying to understand what happened here tonight, but I didn't want to get myself arrested for destroying Chicago, or worse, get sent to a loony bin for making up fairy tales.

But then, they claimed to have dealt with an alien invasion. Presumably, they were a bit more open-minded than the vanilla mortals I usually dealt with.

I took a deep breath. 'I, uh, I may have used the bones to create a zombie dinosaur.'

'So you're a wizard,' the Viking rumbled. I know he was trying to be cool and manly, but why did he have to have yell in such a deep voice? I was exhausted from all the magic I swung around today, and getting shouted at really was not helping my throbbing headache.

I nodded.

The Avengers suddenly tensed, and moved into slightly more threatening positions. Whoa, was not expecting that reaction. They had no problem with aliens or dinosaurs, but felt threatened by wizards? Robin Hood seemed particularly unnerved.

'You don't like wizards?' I asked.

'Hawkeye recently underwent a particularly . . . unpleasant experience with magic,' the woman said. I guessed that Robin Hood's codename was Hawkeye.

'A wizard . . . he used a magical scepter to mind-control me,' Hawkeye said, after a moment.

I stared at him. 'He can't do that. It's against the Laws of Magic.' No wizard would dare use magic to mind-control another human being; it was a form of illegal wizardry that the White Council would punish with execution, or worse.

'He did it anyway,' Hawkeye said bitterly. 'I . . . I don't remember too much, but I know I was forced to fight for him. I was later told that I had given over national secrets, and that he used me to fight my teammates.' He paused. 'You can understand why I don't like wizards so much. None of us do, I guess, after Loki.'

'Loki? Like one of the gods from Norse mythology?' I asked. If Loki wasn't human, it would explain how he so casually broke the White Council's Law against mind-control magic. The White Council only had power over human practitioners.

'Sort of. Loki is Thor's brother,' the woman said, pointing at the Viking. 'Thor is an alien that the Norse worshipped as a thunder god. Loki was worshipped as the god of mischief and magic.'

'After all that, we're a bit hesitant to trust wizards,' American Flag said. 'Official policy is to bring magic users back to base, investigate their powers.'

That sounded bad. If I had to be arrested, I'd rather if Murphy did it. She arrested me around once a year, usually whenever big-league supernatural baddies came at to play; I usually had to use more aggressive, destructive magic to stop them and ended up causing a lot of property damage. By this point, me and Murphy had an understanding. She knew she couldn't let someone with my destructive capabilities walk free without any official censure, but also knew that she needed me and my fire magic to stop the magical bad guys, and to prevent Chicago from being destroyed. So, Murphy would arrest me, I would post bail, and then walk free with a warning a few hours later.

These guys, however, did not know me, or my power; they couldn't fathom what lengths I would go to protect the city and people I loved. I was worried that they would actually arrest me and take me back to their base, leaving Chicago unprotected. That would be bad, to say the least. If I wasn't here prodding them, I knew that the Black Court would take their sweet time evacuating the city, giving them a chance to hurt people I loved. I also needed to oversee the White Court and the fae, and make sure that they did not take too many liberties with mortals' lives. I was needed here.

These government clowns were treating me like the villains I spent my life fighting. I began to get angry.

'I'm a wizard, not a criminal,' I said. 'I use my magic to fight bad guys. In the last ten years, I've taken down a magical drug organization, werewolf FBI agents, vampires, and fallen angels. And I just spent the night stopping necromancers from becoming demigods and starting the apocalypse. I don't care who you are or who you work for. I refuse to get incarcerated just because you had a bad experience with some magical lunatic. If you want to jail me, you'll have to fight me.'

My blasting rod had started smoking during my little speech. All of the lights on the block flickered once, in unison, before the lights winked out. The glowing blue light on Robot Dude's chest was just bright enough to let us see each other, but it seemed, fainter, less intense, than it had been before my outburst.

'Calm down there, Gandalf,' Robot Dude wheezed, sounding oddly out of breath. Maybe the machine I had taken for a robot was really a metal suit, with a man inside it? It seemed that my tantrum affected his breathing apparatus. I took a moment to collect myself. I really didn't want to accidentally kill a man because I lost my temper and blew out the mechanical systems he needed to remain alive. I wasn't exactly eager to kill an innocent individual, and I suspected that these government guys would be less then sympathetic if I was responsible for a teammate's death.

'Sir, I understand that these accusations are upsetting,' American Flag said. 'But you are an unfamiliar wizard, with unknown powers and allegiances, and we need to ensure that you do not pose a threat to national security.'

'If I could prove that I wasn't a threat, will you let me go?' I asked slowly. I had an idea, the sort of idea that would either turn out really well, or really badly. If I was reading American Flag right, I wouldn't end up emotionally scarred for life. I hoped.

'What kind of proof?' he asked.

'I have an ability that lets me see the soul of another person. In return, he looks at mine. We get to see each other, know the other person intimately. There's no hiding, or lying, during a soul gaze. You'd look at me, and _understand _me. What I stand for, what my goals are, and what lines I would never cross. You'd know who I truly am, and what I truly believe in. I'd see you in the same way.'

He hesitated. 'The procedure isn't dangerous?'

'Not physically, no. But there's a chance you'll see some real ugly things in the other person. And you can't forget what you see. If you see something you don't like, you'll always remember it, as clear as the moment you saw it.'

I was taking a big chance here. Wizards can't see their own souls, and while I've met my subconscious a few times, I wasn't as familiar with it as I would've liked. I really didn't know what he'd see. All I knew about my soul was that I'd exchanged soul gazes with both Gentleman Johnny Marcone and Murphy, and they were both impressed with what they had seen. If I could make both a deadly, hardcore mafia boss and a world-weary but dedicated police officer respect me, I must've had something redeeming within me. I hoped American Flag would feel the same way.

'I don't really want to get arrested,' I said, 'and I'm powerful enough that a fight would turn really ugly, really fast. So, let's do it my way. If you approve of what you see, I go free, and you tell your superiors that I'm not a threat. If you don't, I'll come with you, quietly. I won't fight.' If American Flag was convinced I was dangerous after soulgazing me, there was no way he'd willingly let me go free. While I felt like I could probably bring down one or two of them - like Green Guy and maybe also Robin Hood - there was no way I'd be able to take all six; after the battle with the necromancers, I was simply too tired and magically drained to win another fight tonight.

'I'll do it,' American Flag said, after a moment. I breathed a sigh of relief. 'How do we go about this . . . soulgaze, you said it was called?'

'We look into each other's eyes for a long moment, and don't look away.'

'How long will it take?' the woman asked.

'It won't seem like too long to you guys, maybe a minute,' I said. 'But to us, it'll seem to last longer.'

'Whenever you're ready,' he said.

I looked at him, right into those deep blue eyes, and prayed to anyone or anything listening that he would be impressed.

American Flag stood tall and straight, fierce and proud. An eagle swooped around him, and Lady Liberty was leaning on him for support. He protected them, the Lady and the eagle both, with his shield, red with war, white with hope, blue with yearning.

The twin towers were his shadow, and the ghost of Hiroshima lingered in his eyes. When he reached for the moon, the world trembled. New Orleans drowned in his tears, and the blood in his veins pulsed with the rhythm of war.

With him standing in front of me, I knew I was safe, sheltered. He would shield me from everything he could, fight so I didn't have to. He knew America and her people, loved them, and would defend them with everything he had.

And then, I was staring at those deep blue eyes again.

I was shaken by what I had seen. This man was kind of like me, but much more extreme. However I felt about protecting Chicago, he took those feelings, magnified them, and applied them to the whole nation. He was so mind-bogglingly loyal that I was afraid, just a little bit, of the lengths he'd go to protect his country.

And if, after seeing my soul he decided I was a threat, I was afraid of what he'd do to me.

'We can trust him,' I heard American Flag say. I let out a deep breath. I wasn't going to be arrested tonight.

'You sure?' asked the woman.

'Yeah,' American Flag said. 'He's kind of like us. He just wants to help out.'

'So he created a zombie dinosaur, and let it destroy half of Chicago?' Robot Dude asked.

'I was saving the city from amoral, power-hungry necromancers,' I cut in. 'They discovered a ritual that would allow them to become demigods, and would have completely decimated the country in the process. I couldn't get close to them without having some sort of necromantic energy surrounding me, and I can't create human zombies, so I found the nearest complete set of bones and animated it. The dinosaur let me get close. I stopped the necromancers, destroyed their funnel of malevolent energy, and prevented the world from getting destroyed.'

'You're staring at me again,' I informed them a moment later.

'You destroyed necromancers with a zombie dinosaur?' Green Guy choked out.

'Yeah,' I said.

'Ok, that's at least as cool as what I did with the nuke and the aliens,' Robot Dude said. He turned to American Flag. 'Cap, can I keep him, forever and ever and ever?' he asked. 'I promise I'll be good. I won't cause any national incidents for a whole month if you let me.'

'No,' Cap said. 'Sorry about that,' he said to me. 'Iron Man here tends to get overly enthusiastic when he thinks he's found a new toy.'

'That's Ok, I think,' I said. I wasn't really sure how to respond to a robot trying to take me home, but I wasn't going to ask too many questions.

'Just ignore him,' the woman said. 'We do that most of the time.'

'No you don't. I'm just that awesome,' Iron Man said.

'Or that annoying,' Hawkeye muttered.

'Anyway,' Cap said, rolling his eyes, 'you did good tonight. SHIELD will pay to repair the damage you caused.'

'Thanks,' I said. I meant it. I felt pretty bad about how . . . destructive I normally was; I always stopped the bad guys, but homes, cars, and buildings tended to pay the price.

'The Helicarrier will be here in five minutes to pick us up, sir,' the woman said suddenly.

'Hey, if you're ever in Manhattan,' Iron Man said, 'stop by Stark Tower sometime. I'd love to run a few experiments on your magic.' That's probably why he'd wanted me to come home with him.

'Don't,' Hawkeye told me seriously. 'If he gets you into his lab, he's not going to let you leave until he figures out what makes you and your magic tick.'

'Thanks for the warning,' I said.

'Captain, the Helicarrier is waiting for us,' the woman said.

'We have to go,' Cap said. 'I hope we have the opportunity to work together in the future. If you ever decide you want national support and access to federal resources for some of your fights, call me. I'll see what we can do.'

'I'll take you up on that,' I said. I appreciated the offer. Very few people welcomed my efforts to defend Chicago, and even fewer volunteered to help me; I could count my allies on one hand.

He nodded to me, and turned around, gesturing to the others. Iron Man flew after him, and the others followed him on foot. Except for Hawkeye.

'I know that Cap trusts you,' he said once the others turned the corner. 'But I don't.'

'Would you like to?' I asked. I wanted him to be able to trust wizards, appreciate magic. In general, vanilla mortals were wary of magic, and Hawkeye had a very good reason for taking that centuries-old suspicion to a whole new level. I wanted him to overcome that fear. Magic should be about life, and faith, and safety. It shouldn't have been used to violate him, to scar him so deeply I was scared he'd never get over it if he didn't get some help.

He shrugged. 'Maybe. I trust Cap. If he likes you, you can't be that bad. But . . . ' he trailed off.

'You don't trust wizards,' I finished. 'I get that. Your first experience with magic was with a maniac who obliterated your free will. I can tell you that I won't do the same, but why should you believe me?'

'Yeah. I mean, I'm sure you're a nice guy, but the magic just . . . scares me. Makes me feel unsafe.' He paused. 'Can you . . . can you teach me about magic?' he asked slowly. 'What it can do, what it can't do. How I can try to protect myself. I want to learn, and if Cap trusts you, I want you to be the one to do it.'

I nodded. I was _impressed_ with this guy. He had been magically mind-controlled, and was now willing to face his fear by turning to a wizard to teach him how to prevent anything like that from happening to him again.

'Can we do this over the phone?' he asked. 'I don't think I'm ready to actually see you use magic.'

'Sure,' I said. I fiddled through my duster, found a crumbled business card, and handed it to him. 'Not tonight. I used a lot of magic today, and I really need to get some sleep. Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow would be great.'

He nodded, and began walking away.

'You know, I guess you aren't that bad, for a wizard,' he called over his shoulder.

Fin.


End file.
